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Niles: These theme parks don’t draw huge crowds, but are still worth a visit

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:19 GMT

Earlier this month, the Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM released their annual Theme Index report, detailing 2022 attendance at 20 top theme parks around the United States. Disney and Universal topped the list, but this week I want to talk about some of the parks that did not make the TEA/AECOM report.Destinations such as Walt Disney World and Disneyland have earned their status by offering great rides and shows that attract a large and loyal audience. But several less-visited parks also offer attractions that rival those found at the top parks. These parks are worth considering by any family looking for something different, and perhaps less expensive, for their next theme park getaway.Let’s start with the Legoland theme parks. Legoland California was the company’s first theme park in the United States, and Legoland remains the gold standard for families with elementary school-aged children. The Carlsbad park is offering a new action sports show this summer, and its mix of...

15 must-read books coming summer 2023 (and beyond)

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:19 GMT

Summer is about more than beach reads.Don’t get us wrong — there’s nothing wrong with taking something light and escapist to your favorite oceanside spot, but it’s also perfectly fine to retreat to the darkest, most air-conditioned room you can find with a book, a glass of water (or whatever), and try to forget that triple digits are on the way.Related: 17 must-read summer romance novelsAnd you have a lot to choose from this summer. Whether you prefer literary fiction that will make you think, thrillers that will have you on edge, or nonfiction deep-dives into fascinating subjects, we’ve got you covered. Here are 15 of the most exciting titles to look forward to this summer.“The Librarianist”Author: Patrick deWittWhat It’s About: The latest novel from the beloved Canadian American author (“The Sisters Brothers,” “French Exit”) follows Bob Comet, a retired librarian in Portland, Oregon, who begins volunteering at a senior center — and comes to terms with his own complicated past.Publ...

California’s crazy home prices: Down 18% then up 14%, all in one year

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:19 GMT

“Numerology” tries to find reality within various measurements of economic and real estate trends.Buzz: Deep discounts on California homes shrank this spring – especially to the south – as the purchasing pace is almost historically sluggish.Source: My trusty spreadsheet reviewed May’s homebuying report from the California Association of Realtors.Fuzzy math: Is the springtime price surge really a California housing rebound?ToplineThe median sales price for an existing California single-family house was $836,110 in May. That’s down 6.4% from a revised all-time high of $893,200 in May 2022. Prices fell in 42 of the 53 counties tracked.But it’s been a pricing rollercoaster in the 12 months since the pandemic’s bubblish peak.Start with the statewide median crashing 18% from May 2022 through February 2023 to $735,500. That $157,500 drop was tied to rising mortgage rates, which pushed many house hunters away and convinced numerous homeowners not to sell.Since that recent bottom, this home-...

2 Half Moon Bay mushroom farms cited for workplace safety violations after January fatal shootings

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:19 GMT

BY STEFANIE DAZIO | Associated PressCalifornia has cited two Northern California mushroom farms for health and safety violations and proposed more than $165,000 in potential fines five months after a farmworker killed seven people in back-to-back shootings on the farms in Half Moon Bay.Chunli Zhao, who had worked at the farms, is charged with seven counts of murder and one count of attempted murder in the Jan. 23 shootings that stunned the small coastal community about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of San Francisco. He has pleaded not guilty.Authorities say Zhao opened fire at California Terra Garden, where he previously worked, killing four co-workers and wounding another one. They said he then drove about 2 miles (3.22 kilometers) to Concord Farms, a mushroom farm he was fired from in 2015, and shot to death three workers.The state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, known as CAL/OSHA, filed 22 violations against California Terra Garden, Inc. and proposes $113,800 in fi...

First-year teacher named Los Gatos High’s Educator of the Year

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:19 GMT

There are many unsung heroes working behind the scenes to further education, among them Joanne and Joe Rodgers. Since 1992 the Rodgerses have given a nontaxable gift of $2,500 each year to the Los Gatos High School Educator of the Year. The spin is that the winning teacher is voted upon by the students and differs from the Teacher of the Year award from the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District. The winner is announced at the yearend picnic on the front lawn of LGHS.This year’s winner is Ken Nakamoto, director of bands, who is finishing his first year at LGHS. His students say, “He’s Nakamazing!”“For his first year, Mr. Nakamoto has gone above and beyond to make the band environment (both marching and concert) continue to thrive,” said one student.July is Rider Appreciation Month at the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad in Oak Meadow Park. The man who started it all will be celebrated on Sunday, July 24, when riders get to name the amount of their donation for each ride on the tr...

Silicon Valley families share homes to save money on rent

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:19 GMT

Editor’s note: This story is part of the annual Mosaic Journalism Workshop for Bay Area high school students, a two-week intensive course in journalism. Students in the program report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.Suliquell Bautista and her family of four live in a two-bedroom house in San Jose with two other houses on the same property.They have a family living next to them, one on their right side, and a family in front in the main house.Both Bautista and her husband, Mario Quezada, have taken on two jobs each in order to afford rent. Bautista babysits Monday through Friday and works at a food truck on the weekends, while Quezada works construction jobs during the week and does landscaping on the weekend.“The most difficult thing is the price of rent,” Bautista said of living in Silicon Valley. “Because one spends more time outside working than inside resting, because one has to earn money for rent.”Some families in Silicon Valley, like Baut...

‘The Hajj is not Mecca’: Why prayers at Mount Arafat are the spiritual peak of Islamic pilgrimage

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:19 GMT

ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia (AP) — They came in the dark of night, in the thousands, to clamber up the rocky hill called Mount Arafat. The mound southeast of Mecca is little known outside Islam. For non-Muslims, the circling of the Kaaba — the black, cube-shaped structure in the holy city — is the most arresting visual moment associated with the annual Hajj pilgrimage.But for Muslims, it was Tuesday’s rite of praying at Arafat that represented the sum and substance of the Hajj.The hill and the Day of Arafat, as the second day of the annual pilgrimage is called, hold immense significance in Islam. Arafat is mentioned in the Quran and it is where the Prophet Muhammad is said to have given his last sermon on his final Hajj. According to traditional sayings of the prophet, the Day of Arafat is the most sacred day of the year, when God draws near to the faithful and forgives their sins. The moment of closeness to God makes it the most personally resonant part of the pilgrimage for many.By 4 a.m...

La Corte Suprema rechaza la polémica teoría de la ley electoral respaldada por Trump

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:19 GMT

(CNN) — La Corte Suprema de Estados Unidos dijo este martes que el Tribunal Supremo de Carolina del Norte no violó la cláusula electoral de la Constitución de Estados Unidos cuando invalidó el mapa del Congreso del estado para 2022, rechazando una versión amplia de una controvertida teoría legal de la Legislatura Estatal Independiente impulsada por los partidarios del expresidente Donald Trump.El presidente de la Corte Suprema, John Roberts, escribió la opinión de 6-3.El caso había captado la atención de la nación porque los legisladores republicanos de Carolina del Norte estaban pidiendo a los jueces que adoptaran una teoría legal inactiva desde hace mucho tiempo y sostuvieran que los tribunales estatales y otras entidades estatales tienen un papel limitado en la revisión de las reglas electorales establecidas por las legislaturas locales cuando se trata de elecciones federales.Exclusiva: CNN obtiene la grabación en la que Trump habla de documentos clasificados en 2021“...

Defending Tour de France champion Vingegaard, 2-time winner Pogacar meet for next chapter of rivalry

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:19 GMT

One rider, two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar, was so strong at the start of the season that he was compared to the great Eddy Merckx before an injury stopped his seemingly unstoppable rise.The other, defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, dethroned Pogacar last year and arrives in top form to defend his title next month.The two have already gone head-to-head twice at the Tour, and are building one of the greatest rivalries in the storied history of cycling’s most famous race.Add to this fierce rivalry four mountain-top finishes and a Tour record 30 difficult climbs, and you’ve got the ingredients for a mouth-watering three-week duel in the scorching heat of July.And as if the script wasn’t exciting enough, there are more storylines in store to spice up the 110th edition of the grueling race that starts this weekend from the Spanish city of Bilbao. Former champion Egan Bernal is returning into the fray at the Tour for the first time since his life-threate...

Jay Johnson made all the right moves to quickly build LSU into a national champion again

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:19:19 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Jay Johnson was a West Coast guy and doing just fine coaching at Arizona when the opportunity to take over at LSU presented itself.The Tigers were long established as college baseball bluebloods, and Johnson would have been lying if he said he weren’t at least interested in taking a look at succeeding the retiring Paul Mainieri after the 2021 season.Johnson said knowing he would have Dylan Crews on the roster for two years made the job irresistible.With the Golden Spikes Award winner leading the way along with star transfers Paul Skenes and Tommy White, the Tigers made the 46-year-old Johnson the first baseball coach to win a national championship before his third year at a school.LSU was the consensus No. 1 team in the nation from the preseason until May 8, and now the Tigers are back where they started after winning a three-game College World Series finals with an 18-4 win over Florida on Monday night for their seventh title and first since 2009. The Tiger...